“Good morning,” she offers in a raspy voice.
“Good morning.” My eyes roam over her makeup-stained face. It looks as though she’s had the night from hell, but somehow, she’s still beautiful. Someone as young and pretty and vulnerable as her shouldn’t be in a place like this. But she’s only nineteen, I remind myself. Too young to know better. I wonder if she even remembers anything from last night. If she even realizes how badly her night could have ended if it had been someone else in my place. Tension floods my body as I allow myself to observe her; this tragic, wild creature who had the unfortunate luck of stumbling into my path. I can’t decide what’s worse, the monsters who tried to corner her last night, or the monster in me demanding that I allow myself just one taste. One kiss. One touch. One fuck.
Christ. She’s staring up at me with those pale green eyes, and I’m becoming all too aware of the escalating temperature in the room. I need to look away. I need to be the one to grasp onto logical thought. Because right now, all I can think about is the way her body felt against mine when she was trying to climb me like a tree last night. If she remembers that, I can’t tell, but when she clears her throat, I realize I need to fucking say something.
“There’s a bottle of water.” I gesture to the table. “And some Ibuprofen. I figured you might have a headache this morning.”
I wait for her reaction, half expecting her to start demanding answers about what happened between us. But instead, she simply sits up and scrubs the sleep from her eyes before she reaches for the water. “Thank you for this. My throat is so dry.”
“That’s what happens when you party too hard,” I observe, my tone harsher than I intend.
She winces and shakes her head, almost as if she’s disappointed in herself. “I know. That was a really stupid thing to do.”
“I won’t disagree.”
She glances up at me and frowns. I’m being an asshole, and I know it. Last night, she was practically begging me to fuck her. Pawing at me like I was her life raft. Now the illusion is shattered, and she’s already looking for the nearest exit. I don’t want to let her leave, but I need more than anything for her to go. For reasons I can’t really comprehend in my current state of mind, I feel like a hunter staring at his prey. I’m drawn to this girl in a way I haven’t been drawn to anyone else… ever. And that’s exactly why I need to let her run, as fast and as far as she can.
“I’m sorry I took up so much of your time,” she says. “I didn’t mean to pass out. God, this is so embarrassing.”
Words fail me when she glances at me nervously as she finger-combs her hair back into place and knots it at the nape of her neck with a hair tie. This entire encounter isn’t something I’m particularly used to. I don’t make a habit of small talk, and usually, if she was one of my hookups, I’d be long gone by now. But she isn’t a hookup. Even though I can still feel her lips on mine, and I can still smell her arousal as she offered herself to me like a human sacrifice. My cock throbs at the memory, anxious to squeeze inside her and forget all the reasons this can’t ever happen. I’m trying not to think about that when I point to her left.
“There’s a bathroom if you need to use it.”
“Oh, thank you,” she murmurs as if I read her mind. She tosses the blanket aside and stretches, arching her back and displaying every curve in her body without being aware of it. In the light of day, her tight black pants and corset aren’t doing anything to dull my senses.
She pads to the bathroom with bare feet, and I check my phone for any messages while I try to devise a plan. I need to take her home, drop her off, and tell her to have a nice life. That’s the smart thing to do. But even as I tell myself that, I’m considering what I really want to do.
Katerina reappears from the bathroom, fresh-faced and slightly sheepish. She’s scrubbed off her makeup, and now all that’s left is her vulnerability. It shows when she slips back into the lace-clad gloves that cover the scar on the inside her forearm. The one I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I saw it.
Who hurt you?
I want to ask, but that’s not a path I’m willing to go down. This girl, whoever she is, isn’t for me. I don’t do attachments. I don’t rescue broken women. She needs a nice, sweet guy to set her straight and take her to dinner and the movies. That won’t ever be me, and I already want to murder the motherfucker who gets to have those things with her.
“I’ll take you home.” I force the words out as she slips into her coat and boots.
“There’s no need.” She offers me a shy smile. “I already called Nina. She’s coming to get me.”
“Nina?” I repeat the name with obvious contempt, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Do you know her?” Katerina asks.
It isn’t something I want to get into, so I deflect. “It’s not a problem for me to drop you off.”
Before she can reply, the elevator doors open, and Andrei appears again with a shit-eating grin on his face when he sees Katerina is awake. Motherfucker.
“My apologies, Levka. I didn’t realize your friend was still here.”
Sure, you didn’t, asshole. “Did you need something else?”
“Yeah, I need to talk to you about those contracts.”
“Right now?” I stare at him incredulously. He’s getting on my last nerve this morning. He’s like a fucking hound, sniffing out my every move. If he had his way, he’d be pissing circles around Kat right now too.
“We only have a short time before my father arrives,” he answers. “I figured it’s best to be prepared.”
As much as I want to deny that he’s right, the big oaf does have a point. The business we have to discuss isn’t about any contracts, but it is time sensitive. When Vasily arrives today, I need to have my head in the game. But even knowing this, I’m still not ready to let Katerina run off just yet. It feels like we have unfinished business, but I don’t yet know what it is. When I glance at her, she’s already moving toward the elevator, slipping out of my grasp.
“I don’t want to keep you,” she says quietly. “I’ll just let myself out. Nina’s downstairs waiting for me.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Andrei is watching me intently, and there is nothing I can say in his presence that he won’t misread. So instead, I simply nod, and she offers me one last sad smile before the elevator doors close her in and sweep her away.
After discussing the von Brandt family at length with Vasily, Andrei and I receive our marching orders. This job is not something I’m at all comfortable with, given my new association with Katerina. Though I don’t particularly care for Nina, Kat considers her a friend. I can’t help wondering how this might affect her if it goes south. But regardless, it’s out of my hands.
William von Brandt brought this on himself, and whatever ill fate befalls him is his responsibility alone. Still, it does not sit easy with me as I consider the position he’s put us in. Vasily does not give more than one warning. In many cases, he doesn’t bother to give any. William is a father and a husband, and he’s playing a dangerous game testing a Vor’s patience this way.